The invention relates to a reciprocating floor assembly, wherein the floor comprises adjacent reciprocating slats that can be moved relative to one another in such a manner as to move a load or object disposed on the floor.
Reciprocating floor assemblies are particularly valued in the trucking, waste hauling, and shipping industries, where such reciprocating floors are used to load and unload cargo or transported commodities to assist personnel performing the loading or unloading operations or even to entirely obviate the need for such assistance in operations such as dumping transported waste. To accomplish this feat, conventional reciprocating slat conveyors include at least three groups of slats, which can be separately shifted relative to one another and driven in succession in one direction by means of a suitable driving means over a predetermined stroke length. In a returning stroke, the slats are withdrawn non-uniformly to an initial starting position to repeat the cycle, each cycle incrementally advancing the load in a desired direction. Such reciprocating floor assemblies are shown in, for example, EP 0 721 901 A1 issued to Cargo Handling Systems B.V., incorporated herein by reference, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,943 issued to Foster. Conventional slats for such systems are taught in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,447,222, 6,013,585, and 6,019,215 issued to Raymond K. Foster. These patents disclose, as shown in FIG. 1 of this application, a conveyor slat 10 having an upper portion and laterally spaced apart depending leg portions 24, 26, each with a laterally outwardly directed flange 28, 30. These conveyor slats are provided on guide beams 12 having narrow mounting portions and wider upper portions. Inwardly directed flanges are disposed at the bottom of depending legs 24, 26 in a position corresponding to the narrowed portion of the guide beams.
In conventional reciprocating floor systems, such as provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,943, the longitudinal guide beams 155 which help guide and align corresponding floor slat members during reciprocating movement rest on and are secured to ribs 126, 128, 130 of the mounting frame members 116, 118, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,686, also issued to Foster, shows guide beams 12 extending across upper surface of transverse I-beams 14, as shown in FIG. 4 herein. This configuration is also taught by U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,396 issued to Quaeck, which shows in attached FIG. 5 that the beams 12, 13 having bearing strips 14, 15 are disposed to traverse cross beams 10, 11.
A need exists for continued improvements in load distribution and weight minimization of such structures.
It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide improved pultruded slats for such conveyor systems.
A further object of the invention is to provide a reciprocating slat conveyor system which includes the pultruded slots of the inventor.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.
In satisfaction of the foregoing objects and advantages, the present invention provides a slat for a reciprocating slat conveyor system comprising:
a slat body including a top portion, a first side portion, and a second side portion, the first and second side portions depending downwardly from opposite lengthwise sides of said top portion;
wherein the first side portion and second side portion each include projections extending toward an opposing side portion,
wherein the top portion of the slat body comprises a plurality of closed cells, and wherein a bottom of the top portion, the first side portion, said second side portion, and the projections comprise an open cell.
In a further embodiment, the invention provides a continuous profile molding method for manufacturing a slat for a reciprocating slat conveyor system comprising the steps of:
arranging a plurality of fibers into a shape of at least a top portion of a lengthwise slat body, the slat body comprising a top portion, a first side portion, and a second side portion, the first and second side portions depending downwardly from opposite lengthwise sides of the top portion; wherein the first side portion and second side portion each include projections extending toward an opposing side portion, wherein the top portion of the slat body comprises a plurality of closed cells, wherein a bottom of the top portion, the first side portion, the second side portion, and the projections comprise an open cell;
applying a thermoplastic or thermosetting resin onto said fibers; and
moving the fibers bearing the thermosetting resin through a die, wherein the fibers bearing the thermoplastic or thermosetting resin are heated to a temperature sufficient to melt the resin and are compressed to form the slat body.
Also provided is a reciprocating slat conveyor system having a plurality of adjacent conveyor slats mounted to be selectively reciprocated endwise, comprising:
a plurality of elongated slat bodies extending in and reciprocatingly moving in a first direction, the elongated slat bodies including a top portion, a first side portion, and a second side portion, the first and second side portions depending downwardly from opposite lengthwise sides of the top portion, wherein the first side portion and second side portion each include projections extending toward an opposing side portion, wherein the top portion of the slat body comprises a plurality of closed cells, and wherein a bottom of the top portions, the first side portion the second side portion, and the projections comprise an open cell; and
a plurality of guide blocks mounted to a top surface of cross members extending in a second direction perpendicular to said first direction.